There are times in American public life when you have to stop and ask yourself, “Did that really just happen?” Someone actually had to file a federal lawsuit to try to stop a professional mixed martial arts event on the White House’s South Lawn that featured a title fight and was funded by a $60 million budget. The event was set for the current President’s 80th birthday. That pretty much sums up the situation as of summer 2026. The Public Integrity Project, a self-described anti-corruption legal firm, filed the lawsuit on behalf of two Virginians: a Vietnam War veteran and…
Author: Sierra Foster
Sierra Foster
Born in Kansas City, Sierra Foster writes about politics and serves as Senior Editor at kbsd6.com. She was raised paying attention to this city, not just living in it. Sierra has a strong, deep connection to Kansas City, from the neighborhoods east of Troost to the discussions that take place in the city hall halls. Sierra, who is presently enrolled at the University of Kansas to pursue a degree in Political Science, applies the rigor of academic study to her journalism. She writes about politics in Missouri and Kansas as someone who genuinely cares about what happens to the people in these communities—the policies that impact them, the leaders who represent them, and the civic forces influencing their futures—rather than as an outsider watching from a distance. Her editorial coverage encompasses state-level policy, local government, and the national political currents that permeate bi-state regional life. Whether it's a city council vote or a Senate race, she has a special gift for turning complex policy language into writing that feels urgent, relatable, and worthwhile. Sierra seldom sits still off the page. She claims that playing soccer on a regular basis has sharpened her instincts for political reporting because of the sport's teamwork, strategy, and requirement to read a changing game in real time. She's probably somewhere in Kansas City with her friends when she's not writing or on the pitch, discovering new reasons to adore a city she already knows so well.
A lawsuit based on a grocery store receipt has an almost poetic quality. Between the frozen orange chicken and the two-buck chuck, you were given a slip of paper with a few too many numbers printed on it. It wasn’t a huge data breach or a corporate cover-up. However, that’s precisely what led to a $7.4 million class action settlement for Trader Joe’s, with many eligible customers having a silent filing deadline. The case’s core is surprisingly limited. According to a California lawsuit, Trader Joe’s printed receipts at specific locations that showed a customer’s credit or debit card number’s first…
For the majority of people, the story seemed to be over after years of development. However, there is still one more chapter to be written in the $725 million Facebook data privacy settlement, which is among the biggest in American tech history. Eligible users are currently receiving a second round of payments, and if you cashed your first check last fall, there’s a good chance you will receive additional funds. It’s easy to forget how important this case was, so the background is important. Facebook’s parent company, Meta, was the target of a wave of lawsuits alleging that the platform…
Finding out that a product you trusted—one you most likely used while standing in front of your bathroom mirror every morning—may have contained an ingredient the manufacturer never bothered to fully disclose can be subtly unsettling. After a class action lawsuit was filed against Athena Cosmetics, the company that makes what it claims is the best-selling lash serum in the world, in October 2024, many RevitaLash users found themselves in a similar situation. The chemical compound at the center of the lawsuit is called dechloro dihydroxy difluoro ethylcloprostenolamide, or DDDE, a name that most people couldn’t pronounce on a good…
Watching a movie about toxic relationships and emotional abuse serve as the backdrop for a real-life conflict that reflects those themes is almost surreal. Based on Colleen Hoover’s popular book, It Ends with Us debuted in theaters in August 2024 to impressive box office results, grossing almost $350 million globally. It was meant to be a triumph. Rather, by December of that year, the two characters in that movie were suing each other in courts on different coasts. In late December 2024, Blake Lively filed his first complaint with the California Civil Rights Department. She claimed that Justin Baldoni, who…
Baby powder has a subtle, unsettling quality. It is white, soft, and slightly clean-smelling, and it is found on bathroom shelves in every home. Mothers applied it carelessly to their babies for generations. It served as the foundation for Johnson & Johnson’s entire brand. In courtrooms across the Atlantic, that identity is currently being dismantled. With over 7,000 plaintiffs claiming that Johnson and Johnson sold talcum powder tainted with asbestos, the company is currently embroiled in what could turn out to be the biggest product liability case in UK history. On its own, the number is striking. However, the underlying…
The majority of people tuck medical bills into a drawer in the hopes that they will go unnoticed. They do occasionally. Most of the time, they don’t, and by the time a collections notice or, worse, a court summons shows up, things have become much more complicated than they should have. In a nutshell, you can be sued for unpaid medical bills. To recoup unpaid amounts, hospitals, clinics, and third-party debt collectors do file lawsuits. It occurs more frequently than people realize, and it usually goes unnoticed. For example, a default judgment may be entered while the defendant was unaware…
When a student opens a homework tab, looks at a progress bar that is currently at 82, and realizes that one incorrect response will cause it to slide backward, a certain kind of dread sets in. IXL is that. And that experience has gone from being merely annoying to actually damaging for an increasing number of students nationwide. For math, English, and other subjects, thousands of schools use IXL Learning, an online learning platform that has been around long enough for some parents to recall it from their own children’s early school years. It presents itself as an adaptive learning…
A concertgoer outside the 9:30 Club on a Monday night summed it up more succinctly than any court document could. “They up-charged so much and it was insane,” she said to a local reporter. Almost everyone who has purchased a concert ticket in the past ten years has experienced this frustration, which is precisely what led DC’s Office of the Attorney General to launch an investigation into Live Nation. The outcome, which was revealed this week, is a $9.9 million settlement that is equal parts responsibility and, at last, fan relief. The details of the Live Nation DC settlement provide…
Purchasing concert tickets online can lead to a particular type of annoyance. You click through screen after screen until, at the very end, with a countdown timer in the corner, the number jumps after you’ve found a respectable seat and the price appears reasonable. Not by a couple of dollars. Occasionally by twenty, thirty, or even more. You have two options: accept it or lose your spot and have to start over. The majority simply pay. On that basis, StubHub developed a business. And several lawsuits are currently focused on that exact moment. StubHub is dealing with a multilayered pile…